Faced with a blank canvas after 2006's near-perfect Citrus, NYC four-piece Asobi Seksu could easily have repeated themselves with another heavy polishing of shoegaze ideals. And faced with the prospect of a new label known for its raft of barely post-emo devotees, they also could have bailed on their nascent legacy and let fall a platter of drab pop-by-numbers. But Hush quells qualms with the relaxed assurance every third album should carry. Rather than replumb the depths of their '90s alt-guitar fetishes, the group opt to broaden their palette with glocks, organs, theremins, glowing string synths, and, of course, Yuki Chikudate's icy soprano — here cutting her melodic curlicues more boldly than ever before. "Glacially" moves from twinkling atmospherics into a coda of halting, herky-jerky guitar antics that will have any Swirlies fan cueing up Blonder Tongue Audio Baton for dessert. And with their unexpected negative space (read: breathing room), both "In the Sky" and "Gliss" signal that Asobi Seksu might be tipping more in the direction of the artfully wrought post-pop of Blonde Redhead than the hazy, gazy soundscapes of A Sunny Day in Glasgow — and you could certainly pick worse poles to wobble between.

BOSTON PRIDE WEEK: OFF THE MAP | June 07, 2010 We may seem a little cranky, but us local gayfolk just love a parade, and we’re actually heartened by this annual influx of brothers and sisters from every state of New England and every letter of our ever-expanding acronym.

THE NEW GAY BARS | June 02, 2010 If I may channel the late, great Estelle Getty for a moment: picture it, Provincetown, 2009, a dashing young man with no discernible tan and an iffy T-Mobile signal languishes bored upon the sprawling patio of the Boatslip Resort.

ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI | BEFORE TODAY | June 01, 2010 If the gradual polishing of Ariel Pink’s sound — and it’s not all that much more polished — puts his loyalists at odds with his albums, I count that as good news.

MORE THAN HUMAN | May 26, 2010 It’s hard to talk about Janelle Monáe when your jaw’s fallen off.